Timeless
by Skullful Babe
Summary: Nobody should run away from their problems, because you'll end up in otherwise impossible situations. Kakashi and Naruto both should've known, and now they're stuck learning it together. KakaNaru, FemNaruto, Rated M just in case.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: Timeless**

 **Summary: Nobody should run away from their problems, because you'll end up in otherwise impossible situations. Kakashi and Naruto both should've known, and now they're stuck learning it together. KakaNaru, FemNaruto**

 **Rated M, just in case.**

 **I also do not own Naruto or any of the Naruto characters.**

 **Chapter 1: Stop!**

* * *

 _Where's my muse, where's my muse?_

 _It feels like every word slipping through my mouth has been used._

 _Staggering like the old man feeding the dirt,_

 _with my glass eye reflecting half the things that I've learned._

 _A windowless frame in a transparent room,_

 _filling up the tracks with plastic assumes._

 _Shapeshift a nuance, a venue._

* * *

 _"Those who break the rules and regulations are scum. But those who abandon their comrades are even worse than scum!"_

Kakashi Hatake thought he finally figured it out.

That he, was worse than scum.

He didn't know what to think anymore - his headband didn't stand for anything beside his rank and he didn't have too many people left to turn to, that would understand at least.

Following the rules lead to completion. Following his commanding officer or the intel given by said officer lead to getting the job done.

And in war, that was all that mattered.

Winning massive battles that undermined the oppositions readied population, cutting off and delaying each other to their own supplies and failed negotiations until one backs down from their missing forces.

 _You just don't understand anything anymore._

 _'I really don't.'_

He still knew what he was to his village at least, with the war ending. Jounin of Konohagakure no Sato, former student of the Yellow Flash and the soon to be Fourth Hokage, and an ANBU hopeful.

But dear Kami, he was lost.

Figuratively and he was looking for it to become literally.

Wandering hopelessly down the distanced slope of the cliff that overlooked the village, Minato Namikaze had almost single handedly won the Third Shinobi War with the background help of every other shinobi still on the roster. His own team of recently promoted jounin and two chunins were part of the final act - blowing up a bridge that would lead their enemies into their land. It was completed, at the cost of one of the chunin.

 _I'm so sorry, Obito._

The Land of Fire was now safe, outside of the few opponents that remained on the border in defense as they returned home with their tails between their legs, but Kakashi was safe to roam around the surrounding woods to drown in his self-loathing on his time off.

And the only thing that was being lost even further was his mind, because he felt like he was going in circles and circles.

All the trees looked similar right outside Konoha, seeing as they were just varieties of oaks and something in another language that he could not remember with scrambled brains. Massive amount of roads and damaged clearings would however act as markings for the area, but the founders declared everything apart of the cliff would be left alone and now he was seeing trees he's only seen in other countries and books. Completely untouched from the First Hokage's ability.

Pushing and pulling overgrown life out of the way as he loudly stomped through, the chipped paint between leaves finally gave him a direction to look forward to.

It was an abandoned cabin.

Blue paint that matched the sea he's seen twice was chipping with white lining for the windows and the only door leading inside. Dancing lights flickered between the shade of orange with faint images reflecting onto the glass. A small porch with two creaking steps was all that was left behind that showed any proper usage from a living being.

Cautiously withdrawing a kunai from his pouch, Kakashi approached the cabin.

Not even the door handle was withering with rust.

Having recognized the type of older windows as ones unable to be opened unless broken, the young shinobi decided to press his ear against the door. Hearing nothing besides stomping feet, he gripped his weapon tighter before reaching for the handle.

* * *

 _Building up an empire of my great desire,_

 _while fumes fuel my thought process take me higher._

* * *

 ** _13 years later..._**

"You've done it this time, you damn brat!"

Running after a small blur, there were 15 similarity dressed men and women with variances of anger on their face.

Sporadically zig zagging across roof tops, flipping off the chest of whoever came closest to catching her, her tile ruining leaps left her flying through the air with her orange jumpsuit acting as fluttering wings around her waist.

With a grin stretched across her tan cheeks, her lips were moving a mile a minute to discourage and mock her followers - them falling behind in exhaustion soon after.

Running until she was sitting high on top of the Northeast wall surrounding a majority of the village, she purposely sat in the shade of a tilted tree that was accidentally planted by nature on the edge of an enormous cliff. Catching her barely missing breath, she didn't bother squinting into the brightly lit village as the aftermath of her chaotic habits was still rising into the sky.

Having been roughly pushed out of a store for simply being interested in a frog mask, she was hit with a mask of a fox and told to never return.

She returned two days later with a bucket of orange paint, several chickens and smoke bombs coated in glitter. Dumping the paint in front of the backdoor of the rude man's store, she scared the bomb strapped chickens into running in, ruining his products with their itty bitty feet before the bombs went off.

Wearing the fox mask as a deformed message of her injured pride for the revenge, it was now in her hands as her high of completion and escaping was falling hard.

Shunned and ignored, this wasn't the first time a citizen had _nudged_ her away from them. Never going further than just that nudge, she had heard the whispers everywhere she went. Besides a sensitive nose, her ears naturally searched for another persons voice in the loneliness she suffered at home.

The whiskers on her cheeks were new, unlike anybody elses birth marks, but a fox?

 _'Aren't foxes red, like this mask?'_

She was a blonde. Was annoying purposely sometimes and she used pranks for attention but why did that make her a demon?

"Naruto Uzumaki, will you please come with us?" Jerking her head up and finding a squad of five elite Shinobi a part of the ANBU forces dressed exactly alike other than their masks, she threw her own at them before running up the rocky cliff.

Checking her pocket for the single bomb she kept in case of said elite showed up, she reached the top of the cliff quickly and ran along the messy edges overlooking the whole village. Watching her step, she made a sharp left when she reached the first main attraction for passing tourists - the Hokage Heads carved in stone.

Leaping into the trees of a thickly branched area in the opposite direction of their village, Naruto jumped as quietly as she could. Listening to the loud but combined and echoing leaps off the creaking branches, she only had to turn and see their grey armor, one of them holding her fox mask through the leaves.

Slowing down to concentrate lighting a match for the bomb, she grinned at the leader before throwing it at him. "Catch!"

Picking up her famed speed and throwing the quiet to the blowing wind, she changed her direction again while the sound of coughs faded away.

' _Normally jisan would send another group of chunins before sending the ANBU.. and not that many at once._ ' Feeling her grin fall as she failed to recognize the masks and hair, Naruto didn't notice the thinning tree branches before they ran out into a plain and almost empty clearing.

Folding into a ball as she tried to hold back her scream of surprise, she skidded across the ground, her outfit getting coated in dirt all over her backside and legs.

"Nng.." Groaning as she slowly unfolded on the ground, she felt a warm wetness cover her knees and elbows. Blinking at the sky before sighing and rolling up her pant legs, she squinted in suspicion at the already healing wound. Twisting her arms around to check her elbows, her loud question of how, as always, went unanswered. Her attempt to shake the dirt out of her pigtails could be marked as a failure as well but when she finally took note of the empty cabin beside her, she shrugged at the possibility of hiding, and maybe even showering in there.

Ensuring to check the windows and seeing absolutely nothing beside her orange reflection, she even knocked at the only door.

Pressing her ear against it, she didn't hear anything besides the multiple footsteps in the trees of ANBU nearing her position.

 _'Screw it!'_ Throwing the door open in a rush, she sprinted in and spun around the teen that was standing a foot away from the door. Surprised at the largeness of the inside compared to the outside, she ran as far as she could into the cabin.

* * *

Of the five that were sent to capture Naruto Uzumaki and deliver her to the Third Hokage, neither of them came close to even touching a strand of her two pigtails. Currently the Captain of the ANBU Squad Track and Capture was sitting on the edge of the forest with his doujutsu activated behind his mask, granting him access to view a 359 degree of the area surrounding him, to a complete 200 feet away from him.

If anything were to happen to Member Eagle, Sloth would take over in the name of their ranks. However not being in that type of situation, Eagle would radio over where their target is based on their chakra signature, if he could find the child. Instead, he found a chakra signature in the shape of a large and slightly disfigured human being.

Splitting his team up for the Target's safety at the view of an unknown chakra signature too close to where Naruto was last seen, Sloth and Rat were sent to chase after it as Bull and Raven were to continue following the scent of where the child went.

Directing half his team exactly where the large source was, he watched Sloth and Rat corner it just as Bull and Raven went out of his range, the radio attached to his neck and ear going into loud static.

"Report at one of a time!" Whispering harshly into his mic, Eagle readied his tanto as Rat reported first.

"We don't see anything, Captain."

"Are you sure? Turn to your right Rat-"

"Positive, I am sure. I do not see anyone nor any tracks indicating anybody being here for years. I do feel the chakra, but nothing is here."

"Stay where you are, I'm coming to investigate the area myself. Bull, Raven, have you found the target?"

"Negative, Captain. Her scent disappears after a large skid mark where she must have fallen. She walked a few feet to her right and then there's nothing."

"Did you check the trees?"

"Yes. There is no absolute scent here besides nature."

Sighing heavily, Eagle nodded to himself in defeat as he paused on a branch. "I'll report this to Hokage-sama immediately. Remain where you are."

Tapping one of the three buttons, the ANBU squad captain changed channels before repeating all the events that happened at their last sighting of Naruto Uzumaki.

* * *

 _Grey and delicious,_

 _the traps can be so vicious._

* * *

Hearing the door shut softly behind him as Kakashi cautiously entered, he quickly felt the air around him become distorted as someone ran past him and further into the house. Stiffening as he quickly took in his surroundings to remember later, he bolted after what he could only recognize as the same shade of orange from looking in the window.

"H-Hey, come back here!"

Turning the corner to see it throwing open doors, Kakashi threw his kunai into the woodwork, a golden blonde strand being pinned as they were already running into the next room.

"Pfft, hell no! You're here to catch me!" Running into the new room where its shout came from, an outdated kitchen with two open doors, several strands had fallen from his kunai and left a trail leading to the furthest.

Pulling out a new blade, he dashed to find a flight of stairs leading downward with the swinging light flickering from lack of use. Taking a step that released a loud creak, he silently sighed before calling out. "Catch you for what?"

Not hearing anything besides shaky breathing, the stairs lead into a large and crowded room filled with dust and items covered in musty sheets. Stairs being against a wall that had a door leading into another room at the bottom of the steps, it creaked from the mixed weight of the owner breathing.

"Catch you for what?" He repeated, knocking on the door as a muffled squak of surprise escaped.

"My prank!"

Taking a step back, the shinobi could only rub at his only exposed eye in confusion as he tried to begin sorting his thoughts. _'I didn't even hear the door open again after I entered, so how could they have came in and how could I be here to punish this person for a prank?'_ Not voicing his thoughts, Kakashi shook his head side to side.

"I'm not. I don't even know what prank you pulled or who you are."

Hearing silence, he watched the door shift from them moving around. "If you're a shinobi from Konoha, you _do_!"

Looking around the dark room before making a two second decision for this distraction, Kakashi quietly slid his headband off and hid it in his pouch. Undoing it and the bandage holding it from his leg, he hid it under the closest sheet. Left eye naturally closed from practice and now piqued with curiosity, he kept the single kunai in his hand.

"I'm not from Konohagakure-"

"You're not?" Watching the door slam open quickly, he was met with a beaming and excited smile. "I'm Naruto, what's your name?"

Feeling the breath stolen from his lungs, Kakashi stepped back in surprise.

With two long blonde pigtails done at the side of her head, her blue eyes shined with interest as she observed his appearance too. Extremely dirtied, her black shirt was tied down and wrinkled by orange sleeves to a jacket around her waist that matched her orange pants, where blood stains covered her knees. Wearing standard blue sandals for ninja, she was tanned and Kakashi couldn't tell if her cheeks were scarred or not.

He could recognize the orange paint on her shirt and the glitter on her hands however.

' _She looks so much like Minato-sensei..'_

Noticing that she didn't say her last name, he rose an eyebrow at her. "What's your last name?"

Seeing her frown a little, she leaned against the doorway and her eyes landed on the scar over his left eye. "It's just safer if I only tell you my first."

"Uh huh." Sarcastically muttering it under his breath as she squinted at him, he introduced himself the same way. "I'm Kakashi. Are you bleeding?"

Experimentally sounding out his name as her head tilted, it took her a moment to register his question before shaking her head wildly.

"Nah, it's fine."

"It looks fresh." Crouching at the obvious civilian to tend to her knees, she took a step backward.

"Really, it's fine."

Staring up at her for a moment warily, he stood back up and began his way up the stairs. "We should probably leave this place. It's, not what it's suppose to be."

Hearing her loudly follow him, Naruto hummed loudly in agreement. "Yeah, it's way too big on the inside when it's really small on the outside."

Reaching the top of to the darkened and outdated kitchen, he followed the almost glistening blonde trail back to the door, only pausing when he heard the girl stop following.

Turning around, Naruto was staring down upsettingly at her hair strands. Running her hands through a pigtail, it was obviously the chopped appendage. Lifting her accusing eyes to him, her head tilted again as something appeared to catch her eye.

"Hey, wasn't it sunny when we entered?" She asked out loud, her face screwing into confusion as she walked to the only yet large kitchen window.

Feeling unease finally settle in his stomach as he walked over to her, he felt glad for his mask when she turned to him for an answer.

There was nothing out the window.

Observing it closely, he noted that if the windows were blacked out, there'd be some sort of light or fold showing the material, but there was nothing.

 _'What's going on? This place is bigger inside and it's suddenly dark outside?'_

Spinning on his heel as he searched for the entrance, he heard Naruto choke on her spit in panic at being left behind.

"Kakashi, wait for me!" Jogging after him as he already started stomping his way to the front door, Naruto stepped out of the kitchen and watched him pause at the end of the ridiculously long hallway. Slowing down to stand behind him, she frowned at the sight of the sitting room.

There was an old fashioned fireplace made of dried clay pushed against and made to be apart of the wall, stones and more clay for a few feet surrounding it. Firewood was stacked in a neat pile beside it, but a large and dark kotatsu was set up with matching cushions at the edge of the stone where the wood floor started.

Three small couches were pushed against the opposite wall from the fireplace with two mobile shelves pushed in between them. The furthest couch from them was closest to the door and directly across from the front door, was a thicker and more reliable looking set of stairs.

The walls were white with red lining and overlooking the whole sitting room were multiple large windows that matched the one in the kitchen.

Pitch black.

Unknowingly regaining her sanity before Kakashi, Naruto marched to the front door and tried to turn the handle. Fiddling with the set of locks when the handle wouldn't budge, there was no familiar clicking sounds. Rattling it and pulling on it, she took a step back and even tried to kick it.

The thump of her foot hitting the door woke Kakashi from his daze and when he pushed her out of the way, he stabbed his kunai into the keyhole.

 _Clink_

Dropping her jaw, Naruto covered her eyes in disbelief. "How is that even possible," she mumbled as she fell onto her behind.

Staring down to the knife in his hand, a large chunk of the kunai's tip was torn off and stuck in the keyhole. Kakashi had to agree with her reaction, not knowing what to do now as none of the windows were able to be opened.

 _'Unless they were broken.'_

Dropping the broken blade onto the floor, Kakashi turned to the kotatsu and tried to lift a side off the ground.

"What're you doing?" Naruto asked, her brows knitted together.

Feeling the strength begin to drain from him at the unmoving table, he lifted the blanketed flaps and saw that its legs were bolted into the floor. "The windows. Maybe they can be broken," Kakashi explained as he stood up straight, heading toward the book shelves.

On them were different books on local and world geography, how to crochet and sew, recorded history so far for children, and what looked like multiple sets of leather bounded journals. Ignoring them as he let them to scatter on the ground, he heard the blonde push them further away until the shelf was empty. Able to pull it away from the wall, he winced at the heaviness of it.

Feeling it become lighter and begin escaping his grip, his natural eye opened to Naruto dragging it toward the windows. Not wanting to feel outdone by the civilian, he took a deep breath and lifted his end higher until they made it across the room.

"So how do we throw it at the window?" Receiving a bland look from the silver haired male, she stuck her tongue out before dropping the object. Looking around together this time, Naruto returned to the pile of books and began chucking them at the window.

 _Thunk_

 _Thunk_

Sighing heavily as he sat on top of the kotatsu, Kakashi watched as each book bounced off. None of them making a single bit of progress besides a quickly growing annoying sound, he waited until each had fallen into a new pile against the wall and for her heavy footsteps to make their way to the other shelf.

"Stop. I don't think we're going to make any progress this way. We should preserve energy and see if there's any other way out." Hearing her huff and fall onto the couch, he scowled behind his mask.

* * *

 _Part time experience might save you from deliverance,_

 _but will it serve the greater cause?_

* * *

 ** _13 Years before..._**

Walking up to a large black obsidian stone were two people. All dressed in black, one was already trying to hold back their tears as the other kept a hand on her back for silent support.

Finally finished gathering the casualties of war, their names were written into the obsidian stone for having been killed in action as the families that received the bodies had their own funerals. Among them were one of the missing links in their team, Obito Uchiha. Body crushed and left behind in enemy territory, they wouldn't be able to recover the body for years - his broken skeleton being the only thing able to find someday if they were lucky.

Allowing the small girl to finally mourn her missing friend and admirer, the older one of the two couldn't help but let the disappointment on his face free in the shadows of his blond hair. _'I told Kakashi the correct time. Where is he?'_

It's been two weeks since the war ended, and Kakashi spent it all in the hospital with visits from everyone that remained apart of old Team 7 or close to the members of it. Filling out paperwork and reports as quick as he could, repeating the heroic story of his rival over and over, Minato Namikaze was observant enough to know that the pre-teen was over analyzing every detail and planning where to go next.

He was only released late two nights ago, spending it running away from his next self-declared rival and asking questions on what it truly meant to be a shinobi.

Finally opening up to world, he broke Rule #35 and Minato hated that it took the lost of another person for Kakashi to show his genuine emotions.

 _'If he'd only show it now to what remains of Obito..'_

* * *

 _'She could be an Iwa-nin.'_ Kakashi suspected, having pulled out the kunai left in the woodwork before she could as the random blonde that looked too much like his sensei ran around upstairs, discovering the place as he followed behind slowly on his own path below. _'She did say if I was from Konoha that I'd know who she was, but I am and I don't.'_

"Ehh, Kakashi! I found some bedrooms!" Naruto's loud voice bounced off the walls, her voice echoing throughout the whole house. Having last seen her run upstairs as he searched downstairs, he steadily made himself up to her position as another one of her shouts reached his ears. "And a ton of candles!"

Only inspecting the downstairs, he already took note that besides the basement, everything was truly outdated and barely even traditional. Upon entrance and to the left of the stairs, there was a long hallway with four doors. One to the kitchen, a dining room for dinner parties of some sort, a bedroom, and a graciously decorated bathroom. The extra door in the kitchen was just a well done pantry and he recognized several of the items as nonperishable or as homemade ration kits.

Naruto, taking her sweet time upstairs, nonetheless found two huge musty bedrooms and a bathroom obviously inspired by a hot spring. The closets were filled with what she labelled as plain and boring white to black only yukatas, a large box of candles pushed to the back of one closet and more firewood stacked in the other, and small futons folded up that smelled repulsive.

Keeping the bad habit of being young and carrying matchbooks to set things on fire, she grinned happily when she unrolled both the futons and found short and used candle holders on their attached own plates.

Her lighting a candle and placing it in the more rusted holder in the hallway was what Kakashi arrived to, and he couldn't help but watch her familiar features be lit up.

The house was dark, yet it somehow wasn't pitch black in the hallway with no functioning window or light fixtures.

So sighing loudly to gather her attention, he felt himself become hypnotized at the highly wattage smile she gave him.

 _'I've never heard of someone being named after a ramen topping. Unless she's the child of someone having died on the other side and is here for revenge, then she might just be an angry refugee brought to Konoha for her own protection, causing a lot of trouble.'_ Blinking his one eye at her multiple times as she became confused at his lack of response, he sighed again and looked at the three open doors. "What all did you find?"

"Huh? Oh." Pointing at each door as she explained, she pouted. "Everything smells really bad. The two bedrooms are huge, but there's really small beds in 'em. _That_ room has more firewood in the closet and _that_ one has the box of candles. They both got white and black yukata-thingys too, but that's it. Didn't even find more blankets or pillows. The bathroom reminds me of a hot spring, the tub and sink look like giant rocks came together to form giant bird baths and there aren't even any towels..."

Raising an eyebrow as she started to wonder and ramble out loud on how they'll even be able to dry off or keep warm if they have to sleep there, Kakashi stared intently at her cheeks.

 _'Are those whiskers?'_

"...something wrong?"

Finding her eyes once more, he could see the raw emotion of worry swim in them. _'She can't be a spy, she's too.. bright. They aren't suppose to be noticeable in crowds.'_

"No, nothing is wrong." He said as stoically as he could, turning to start his descent down the stairs, explaining what he knew of down there to her. "The food in the pantry looks fine and the stove is fueled by wood as well, but there's enough proper pots and pans to simply cook in the fireplace. There's a large dining room, another bedroom with only a futon too, and another bathroom." Giving only her a passing glance as he made his way down the stairs, he had to grip the railway to not trip forward in shock.

Unknowing to him from turning away too soon, Naruto had only heard half of what he said because she was trying to hold back on calling him an asshole as the anger lit up in her eyes. _'Ignores everything I'm saying, lies to me about being okay - I bet he really does know who I am and is just trying to get himself out of here! Well newsflash asshole, I want to leave too! I thought you were going to be a great friend, but you're just like Sasuke! It's all about you, screwing everyone else over unless you can use them -'_

"Naruto!"

"What!" Shouting back to him as the anger leaked from her voice, she stomped her way to the staircase and crossed her arms as the candle nearly went out with her speed. Seeing him almost dash down the rest of the stairs, running into the sitting room full of confusion, she huffed before stomping after him.

"Did you do this?"

"Do what?" Stopping on the last step, Kakashi was standing by the window she was throwing books at earlier.

Except now, the books were back in the shelf that was once again, between two of the couches. Reeling her head back as he turned to her, she shook her head roughly. "I didn't do it, I was up there the whole time you were down here." Seeing him not even move a inch, she glared at him. "How do I know _you_ didn't do this?" She heard him audibly sigh and clench his blade tighter, yet she couldn't help to whisper the insult underneath her breath. _"Asshole."_

Seeing his head snap back to her, Naruto began whistling as she looked up to the ceiling innocently.

Watching him quietly tread into the long hallway that lead to other rooms to search for the cleanliness culprit, she tip toed off the stairs and instantly noticed another door to her current left, in the opposite direction of Kakashi's direction.

Turning her head and not seeing his defying gravity haircut, she shrugged and opened the door herself.

The scent of citrus bombarded her nose, but she couldn't help the excited smile at the different sized blankets and small set of white towels. Knowing that the room she originally hid in earlier was a personalized and old fashioned laundry room, whoever once lived here at least left a washer and laundry lines nailed in. Not needing to search too much, the citrus scent was coming from both boxed soap and light yellow candles.

Grabbing a towel as a cold breeze hit her back, Naruto jumped in place as it was smacked out of her hands.

"What are you doing? Whoever cleaned up the books could've been hiding in there." Rolling her eyes as she turned to the Paranoid Patty, she picked the towel back up and hit him in the leg with it.

"If anyone cleaned up the books, they probably just walked out of the house. Just 'cause we can't leave, doesn't mean the owner can't." Taking a moment to look around, a shiver climbed up her spine at the thought of _what_ could've done it.

Not voicing the suggestion of ghosts, the blonde watched him sigh once more in defeat as she scratched at the back of her head. "So, what now?"

* * *

 _Don't stop dreaming 'cause this ain't over,_

 _wreck up your life, aim til you get sober._

 _Don't stop dreaming 'cause this ain't over,_

 _my friend._

* * *

 _Song - Ghost Kollective_

 _Was inspired by a Supernatural episode to be honest. Thought I'd give it a shot._


	2. Chapter 2

_Obviously, I don't own Naruto or the songs I use._

 **Chapter 2: Space Junk**

 _Sitting on the space junk,_

 _what am I to do?_

 _Riding on the space junk,_

 _and it's bringing me to you._

 _My head is full space junk,_

 _but your words are getting through._

 _Riding on the space junk,_

 _and it's bringing me to you._

* * *

Sitting alone in a brightly lit booth, a single man stared down into his bowl of noodles.

The two that were working behind the counter had their faces scrunched up into different variances of confusion, their movements becoming jerky when loud footsteps reached their ears.

All three of them were waiting on someone to arrive, someone who could've been there hours ago and should've been half a hour earlier.

Scratching at his cheek with one hand as the other swirled the soggy noddles, the man had already laid out his payment and was waiting for the motivation to go home to return.

It wouldn't return until he heard several feet running in a rushed harmony a hour later, and on the way home he'd see an ANBU member on top of each house, business, and some inspecting the war path the missing someone created in their chaos earlier.

* * *

"Auck!"

Shivering as cold air hit her body once again, Naruto pouted grumpily at having to imitate having a shower in a bathtub with a bucket.

Listening to Kakashi pace outside the door, when she mentioned that she needed a bath earlier, he said that separating right now was not the best option.

Her first reaction was to call him a pervert.

His next was to sputter in surprise and try to explain that whoever fixed the shelf could still come back in and attack her while she was defenseless.

"I don't have any weapons on me, I'm already defenseless." The blonde deadpanned, feeling the dirt become itchy while his lone eye widened.

So without further ado, he stood guard outside the downstairs bathroom, the only comment offered being that she couldn't take a bath unless she wanted to just sit in her own filth through the door. The thunk of her shoe hitting the door felt satisfying, but she otherwise used the very convenient bucket meant for this situation and old man smelling soap.

Naruto didn't know what to do with the situation of being locked in an unknown house other than to freak out or take it in stride, and so far she was taking it calmly.

Kakashi didn't know her or if he did, he was one of the few people who didn't care.

Despite the asshole label she wanted to draw on his forehead in marker, she shrugged it off and decided she could try and work around it like she's been trying to with Sasuke.

The blonde just didn't know what to say if he started asking questions, as there really wasn't much about her that didn't scream "Konoha Citizen!"

Besides telling him that she was an orphan from birth in a _random_ attack, a prankster, being lonely and wanting to be a Kunoichi someday - there really wasn't crap she could tell about herself.

He was obviously training to be one himself as well because he stood stiffly, was good with kunais, and wore weird clothes.

She knew if she was like the girls in her class, she'd be fawning all over him purely for his genuinely mysterious appearance.

Slanted silver hair that leaned to his left, he wore a dark shade of grey outfit with white stripes beginning underneath his X-shaped leather sheath holder for missing tantos. An easily attachable belt sat high on his hips, and his pant legs were held down by bandages. Around his forearms were matching arm warmers with a set of rippled arm guards firmly strapped on. Sprouting out from his shirt, was a mask that covered his neck to the bridge of his nose and he had a fresh-looking scar over his left eye.

Naruto wanted to blurt out the question on where he got it and why he wears a mask, but she wasn't that stupid.

' _He's probably one of those bastards that think nobody needs to know info about them or do in exchange for something worthy enough to blackmail with later.'_ She thought, dumping the last bucket needed to wash the bubbly suds from her hair.

Keeping the other habit of having a comb in her jumpsuits pockets for her long hair, she froze in the middle of looking for said object. _'I didn't see any clean underwear in the closets..'_

"Shit," she whispered as she began to quickly dry off her hair and body.

Hearing Kakashi pause in his pacing at her swear, he politely knocked on the door. "What's going on?" He questioned firmly, and the blonde couldn't help but turn pale and let her teeth chatter out of nerves.

"Uh, nothing! Can you get me one of the blankets from that closet real quick?" Planning to use it as a proper cover as she tried to clean the Yukata's and her clothes in the basement, she heard him gather his breath to protest. Cutting him off before he could form appropriate words, she shouted it in a rush. "It's just down the hall! The only way in this place is the front door, so you'll know if someone tries to come back anyways!"

Rolling her eyes when she finally heard his footsteps make their way down a few moments later, another knock on the door had her cautiously opening it as the towel covered her.

Receiving a white comforter, the girl used the towel as the universal drying-turban and wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and wore it as a cape. Kicking her clothes into a pile, she marched out of the bathroom awkwardly.

Seeing the raised eyebrow, she scowled before beginning the mission to the closets upstairs and cleaning the clothes of the musty smell, voicing exactly that as the silver haired pre-teen hesitated at being told to grab her clothes off the floor.

Lighting the scented candles as Naruto manually washed the yukatas and her clothes in a basin, Kakashi did everything he could to avoid looking at her.

The blanket was still wrapped around her, but it was lowered to be tucked under her armpits.

As she washed herself, he had spent his time pacing trying to decide on what to do about her.

She made a point that whoever owned the house could probably leave and enter at any time, cleaning up after whatever mess they caused. Left to guess who could own an old rotten place like this, it wasn't safe for the two to walk around freely without one another. It wasn't also safe as she could've hidden anything in the time it took for him to find her hiding in the laundry room, just like how he hid his headband and pouch.

Having planned to subtly get information out of her somehow, it was interrupted at the realization that she was walking and sitting nude around underneath a blanket.

 _'This is Obito's forte.'_ The thought felt like a smack in the face.

The apparent distraction was losing its luster.

Chasing after their medic and teammate Rin over and over again since the moment Obito met her when they were six, his pickup lines weren't smooth and he had a tendency to lag behind in the book store to check out dirty magazines, but he was still better at the idea of romance alone compared to Kakashi. If only he could've stopped choking up and tripping on nothing, and started pursuing a girl that didn't crush on their _other_ teammate.

 _'Would any village be cruel enough to send a girl this young to seduce and infiltrate Konoha?'_ Trying to shake the thought of his dead teammate away and get another good look of the girl for more marks, he was able to confirm the whisker-like scars on her face at least. _'Who would they be trying to target, other than Minato-sensei obviously? Naruto wouldn't even be able to seduce him, he loves Kushina-neechan too much.'_

Knowing that the Iwa nin who were there that day at the Kanabi bridge were all dead, Kakashi knew he was more locally famous for his genius than worldly. Considered a bit more valuable than to be thrown onto the front lines, especially since the war started when he was younger because of his own father. He was out on the list of possible targets at that logic unless she was from Suna, but his jaw silently dropped behind his mask at the thought that made him clench his kunai tightly in defense.

 _'Maybe she's here to fake being Minato-sensei's sister. Get under his skin in another way and then take him out.'_ Feeling his stare turn into a glare, the multiple candle lights danced across her exposed tan skin. _'I could kill her now, get rid of the problem all together.'_

Not realizing that she felt the hair on her neck rise, Naruto turned to him with her eyes narrowed.

On the last piece of clothing that she tried to hide from him as she stood up, she was hoping to hang it deeper into the room, but her suspicious behavior had him trying to snatch it out of her hands.

"Let go, let _go!_ " Clenching the blanket with one hand as the other held tightly onto the garment, the blonde halted when she felt the familiar cold metal across her neck. Glaring at him as her cheeks lit aflame all the way to her ears, Kakashi held the kunai to her neck as he pulled the object out of her hand and held it up. "Are you happy, you damn _pervert_!?"

In his hand, was her black underwear.

Watching as _both_ his eyes widened in horror, Naruto knew her face was becoming a dark red as his blush slowly rose from behind his mask. Pushing his now frozen arm holding the blade away, she snatched the garment and hung it up on the clothes line as he stood still.

Stomping out of the room and to ground level, the blonde knew the frequent breezes would dry the clothes faster than upstairs. It wasn't until she had a fire going in the sitting rooms fireplace and figured out that the kotatsu was somehow heating up magically, that she would realize she didn't see what damage was done to the scarred eye. Shrugging it off since he was obviously a closet perv that didn't trust her, she laid half her body underneath the large table and spread her long hair out to be dried properly by the roaring fire as her upper half laid out on the stone and clay flooring. Using the comforter properly as a blanket, she tried to settle down.

It took awhile with her mind dancing with the shadows on the ceiling, but Kakashi did return upstairs.

Turning her head to him, he sat on a couch and said nothing, clearly doing anything he could to not look at her.

"Do you not trust me?" Naruto asked out of nowhere. "'Cause I don't know why else you would try and slit my throat just for hidin' my undies from a boy."

Ready to give up on him ever acknowledging her again until they can leave, he answered quietly.

"I don't."

"Why?" Blinking at the direction of him, his voice met her ears.

"Because I don't know you." Screwing her face into a sour expression, Naruto rolled her eyes.

"So? I don't know you, but I'm stuck here with you. There's probably no other weapon here than the one you have, and I haven't tried stabbing _you._ " Yawning, she felt her muscles relax with the only sound left of the crackling fire. Wiggling herself over to snag a cushion to stick under her almost dried hair as a pillow, she pulled the comforter to cover her shoulders and closed her eyes.

 _'She snores like an old man,'_ Kakashi would later think bitterly.

Knowing that everyone he ever once knew would have laughed in or smacked his face at trying to steal a girls panties right from her hands, spy or not, left a deep feeling of embarrassment in his stomach.

It was the furthest he'd ever gotten to a girl, if it counted, and yet Obito would be congratulating him after he was done laughing. With her obviously deep in sleep, obnoxiously snoring, he took a moment to reach out with his chakra to check hers.

 _'How is hers so large?'_

It was calm and relaxed, proving his theory of her genuinely being asleep in front of a complete stranger, and when he tip toed back to the bathroom - he found her abandoned sandals. Checking the inside of the foot, the male noted how worn down they were but still could see the logo where her heel sat.

Konoha's standard: size 5 1/2 female.

Placing them back and making his way to the entrance of the sitting room, he felt his brow furrow in utter confusion at the mixed results. Nothing was hidden in the laundry room from her hiding in it, he had checked after she went upstairs and now she obviously had items from his village. _'I'm starting to wonder if she's even a ninja yet. Her chakra is unnaturally large.. almost close to Minato-sensei's right now. She'd have to be apart of Konoha somehow, or.. maybe from one of the border villages?'_

Retracing the history he knew of the Third Shinobi War, the Great Five Ninja ran villages were failing from lacking missions and their pay. Attacking each other mindlessly in the smaller countries between each other to fill their free time and fulfill their jealousy based off rumors, Konoha descended into the war when Iwa attacked one of the popular and wealthy farmer villages in the Land of Fire that continuously offered C and B ranked missions to Konoha exclusively.

The blonde looked close to his age, so they must've both been around 7 when the war officially started.

 _'Probably shipped off to a smaller villager to be protected or used as a secret weapon if her chakra size is this large with basic opening and training.'_ He concluded, silently wondering on if the Third would even permit either option. _'It'd explain why she'd be running from Konoha with the standard shoes, knowing she'd be sent back if caught by certain shinobi who know of her. Probably could be returned to the village after all this time and didn't want to, failing as a weapon or as a natural born citizen.'_

Sitting back down on a couch, Kakashi leaned back and stared intently at the blonde strands he could see from his point of view. Fighting off the frown at someone defying their purpose as a chosen and naturally born shinobi, his scarred eye opened in the disgust he felt toward himself at that thought.

 _'Obito, what should I do? She's one of the few girls our age who doesn't like me at all. I don't know what she wants, does, or anything. I don't know how to treat civilians or - or damaged goods.'_ Turning his eyes to his hands, he didn't realize when they fell closed over time.

Chin falling to his chest, the fire went out in what felt like hours as the missing wood from the stack beside the fireplace quietly created more.

When Naruto woke up, it was with a grumbling stomach and a loud yawn. Shivering at where cold air hit her exposed shoulders, she still gathered the comforter around her and stood up. Giving a single glance to Kakashi or more specifically his mask, she tip toed her way over to him before pausing half way there.

Squinting at him, she shook her head and made her way to the laundry room. Choosing to only wear her now dried orange pants and black shirt, she returned upstairs and explored the kitchen.

' _No ramen, seriously?_ ' Rubbing her eyes irritably, she shook her head again and went digging deep into the pantry for a combination fit for her large stomach.

Trying not to make too much of a mess of the nicely sorted space, she did find suppressed packages with the words shrimp, beef, chicken, or pork taped on them. Crumpling the package around as she wondered if it was a version of ramen, her other arm searched for a pot with a top. Unknowingly and uncaring at causing a lot of noise in the kitchen, it bounced off the walls in the silent home and woke her unfortunate roommate up.

Bouncing up from his upright position on the couch, the male's neck had a kink in it that caused him to wince quietly. Grabbing the kunai as another clang echoed, Kakashi noted that the fire went out and Naruto was missing from her spot.

Wishing he had his tanto repaired, he warily rose from his spot and made his way to the kitchen.

Peering around the corner, his muscles relaxed as he observed the small girl finding a kettle and a cabinet full of porcelain dishes. Finally able to concentrate on her clean and properly dressed appearance, he noticed the large Uzumaki swirl on the back of her shirt.

"Naruto." Unable to force himself to roll his eye at her jumping, he watched her slowly turn with a wide eyed look.

Knowing that no Konoha citizens wore the symbol unless they were given standard issued gear, his untouched eye widened as the math was silently done. _'She's not a refugee from this war.'_

He could see her lips moving while his eye raced all across her features but he could not hear her over his thoughts.

 _'Kushina-neechan didn't say much, but what if other people got away when the Land of Whirlpools were attacked? She might've been sent to Konoha by someone now that she's old enough since Kushina is now borderlining S-rank. She'd be safe with her after a blood test proving it to her._ ' Feeling an ache in one of his temples, he reached up and rubbed it lightly. _'But then why does she have Minato-sensei's colouring?'_ Able to see features that must belong to all Uzumaki, he only allowed his eye to wander along her body - not realizing that Naruto was staring back confused.

"Eh, Kakashi? You okay there? You can have some too, ya know?" Blinking at him as he finally unfroze, she felt her own suspicions arise as his eye took focus once more.

"Do you want to be a ninja?"

* * *

 _Sifting through the system for the piece that knows my name,_

 _endlessly I listen in the master game._

* * *

Briskly walking through the Preserved Monumental Forest, several figures followed one in a single file line. While the leader was dressed in white with a triangular hat, each heavy gush of wind revealed a black battle outfit underneath. Each of his followers were dressed differently, and only squad leader Eagle remained from the day before, his and his team's individual reports having reached their superior's desk with every single detail they could recall. Supposed to direct the entire group to the large source of chakra that held, he was not needed as his superior could feel the source.

Coming into the clearing that his team had only just searched earlier once again, the oddest squad ever summoned all stared at the distorted air.

"It's like a disfigured human, that has had one too many experiments done on it," said Jun. No one knew his real name anymore, apparently being so old that he could recall seeing their current village leader running around in diapers once upon a time. Having lost his eyesight naturally, the elderly man was personally asked by Tobirama to move from his civilian remedy shop to become a doctor in Konohagakure. Doing so, he had worked alongside Tsunade Senju until she had left, and when he lost his eyesight he moved onto work with patients admitted in the mental wards. Only learning enough of the medic-nin arts to heal wounds for the patients, he created a chakra sonar to help him get around and find the difficult patients.

"It's nowhere near a genjutsu, either. I haven't the slightest the idea of what this could be," replied Kurenai Yuhi softly. Being the residential genjutsu mistress, she was a chunin looking to become a jonin soon. Only able to sense the thick chakra in the air, she was truly only there to confirm or disprove theories.

Walking closer, a man code named Tenzo, who was unfortunately experimented on and given a famous bloodline as a child, crouched and put his hand against the ground. "It's made up of so many different chakra's. I can find Naruto's and the Kyuubi's no problem. However -" Despite wearing a mask, the confusion in his voice was not hidden as he was interrupted.

"- It feels too familiar." Anzu Masao had finished for him. Current director of the hospital, she was born and raised in Konoha. Not biased nor into hero worshiping, she did not deny that she was inspired by the sannin Tsunade to become a medic-nin. No longer taking field missions, she could not remember the last time she had left the village. Superstitious and paranoid however, her hands were clasped before her face. Closing her brown eyes, her mouth moved without sound as she muttered a prayer.

The leader of the group and the village, silent and observant, did not release the look of concern on his face. Hurizen Sarutobi, the reinstated Third Hokage did not know where to start. He could feel the chakra of the small girl that he was affectionate for among what felt like hundreds of people. Frowning, he turned his eyes to the ground. "Eagle, take Kurenai back to the area Naruto's scent disappears from. Kurenai, please cast your strongest genjutsu's that would turn people around and away from the area. Though the source might be here, she did disappear over there. Tenzo, please follow them and create as much natural looking forestry around the area. Thorns, vines, bushes, anything."

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Besides the civilian Jun, all shinobi had responded to their orders. Waiting until they left the clearing, Hurizen turned towards the blind man and sighed.

"So Jun-kun, what all can you tell me about this?"

* * *

"Do I want to be a ninja? Well, yeah. Who wouldn't want to be?" Giving him a long sideways look, Naruto slowed her actions down.

Actually being curious on why, Kakashi furrowed his brows as he thought of the long missions, the amount of bodies he's sliced through, people he had already lost, and he couldn't stop himself from giving her one hard look. "Why?"

Repeatedly opening her mouth and closing it, teachers would be amazed that the blonde finally thought before speaking. "Couple different reasons. Mostly 'cause then I could be strong enough to protect my loved ones."

"Ah." Watching her look away and focus on preparing some kind of breakfast, the jonin crossed his arms. Losing himself in his thoughts and unable to tell how much time passed, it was when she was sitting at the table and shoveling food into her mouth that he even made a noise again. "Why did you say I'd know if you were from Konoha?" Feeling amused at her jumping in surprise, she glared at him before swallowing.

Unable to resist a prideful grin, the blonde's chest swelled as she answered. "'Cause my pranks are so good that I have a code-name from local authorities. I'm considered a B-rank mission."

 _'So she's the human equivalent of Tora the Cat. Great._ ' Rolling his eyes at the lack of information, other than her at least knowing enough about rankings to show that she was being trained, or looking to be trained.

"So Kakashi," raising an eyebrow as she placed her bowl next to the sink, the Uzumaki wiped her hands on her pants and tilted her head. "What all is there to do here?"

"What makes you think I know?" Unable to stop the retort, Kakashi was surprised to watch her grin.

"Well, we can always create some games. Maybe they'll get us movin' around to find some more stuff around here, or get us to break stuff to find a way out." Shrugging, her blue eyes shined competitively. "I don't know, unless you just wanna sit on the couches and wait for somethin' to happen."

Shrugging with her in agreement and not being one to be hungry in the mornings anyways, he felt uncertain on what a game was to her as Naruto's grin gave wattage.

* * *

 _Through the tenth dimension, to the certainties beyond._

 _Dreamily in attention, and the sub-atomic bomb._

* * *

"Hokage-sama?" Turning around, Hurizen gave a sad smile to the concerned man that had been waiting all day.

"Yes, Iruka-kun?" Standing there with his caramel coloured hands fumbling with the lint and loose strings in his pants pockets, his high ponytail bounced with his heavy sigh and hunching shoulders.

"She's still missing, isn't she?" The hope in his eyes died quickly at the elderly man's own drooping shoulders, the stressful frown that adorned his face all day returning once more. "Then is there anyway that I can help?" Clenching his fists, Iruka Umino felt his motivation return. Though it had been only a day after she disappeared and he was left unknowing of how or why, his well-disliked little sister figure had gone missing. It gave him chills on what could have happened to her, the main theory so far of her being kidnapped.

"I still have another 2 months before I have to return to teaching at the academy, so I have the time. I also have money saved up so if anyone says that the village can't fund this, no matter if she's found in a week or two years, I can fund myself to leave the village and track her down. I just can't sit here and do nothing, what if she was kidnapped? What if the traveling vendors spread about her condition and her reputation? We both know she loves the village, but an enemy wouldn't care after coming all this way! That's my little sister -"

Holding a hand up to stop him, Hurizen gave a tired sigh. "Iruka, my boy, I wish you had offered your help earlier -"

Not even trying to catch his breath, Iruka could not help interrupting his village leader. "Is it too late?" Feeling a cold set deep in his stomach to the point that Iruka almost clenched at it, the Hokage shook his head slowly.

"Not at all. The situation is much more difficult than just a kidnapping, though I'm not sure if she's actually safe either. However, it's already 11pm and I can't do anymore paperwork without the words swimming all over the paper. Unless you're wide awake and ready to go through possibly hundreds of files right now, I suggest you get some rest tonight as well."

Watching the man's face become confused and yet relieved that he was now going to be involved, he nodded numbly at the comfort that she wasn't at least kidnapped. "Stop by my office at 9am first though, I need to fill out some paperwork to give you the clearance to enter without me needed, if this happens to take a few days."

* * *

 _My head is full of space junk, but your words are getting through._

 _I'm riding on the space junk, and it's bringing me to you._

 _It's bringing me to you._

* * *

 _Space Junk by Wang Chung._


End file.
